Facade
by Lynnlee22
Summary: Joey receives word that Kelly and Kevin's relationship is more tumultuous than anyone knew.
1. Chapter 1

Come on, Kev. Pick up the phone." Joey sighed in frustration as he paced around the room. Clint's surgery was now less than a week away and he had still been unable to reach his brother.

He'd tried everything. He'd called the house, BE, his cell. He'd left messages with no returned calls. He'd even tried to call Kelly, but even she seemed to be screening her calls lately. How was he supposed to keep him updated about their father if he couldn't even get in touch with him.

The sound of a whispered voice on the line startled him. "Hello," Joey repeated, unsure if perhaps he was getting some sort of interference. It was an international call after all. "Kevin?"

"Uncle Joey?" Zane whispered, his voice slightly louder this time.

"Zane?" Joey sat down at the desk in front of him. This wasn't the type of news you wanted to relay via a twelve year old. "Hey Zane, I want to catch up with you, but I really need to talk to your Dad for a minute first. Is he there?"

"No. He's not here right now," Zane answered succinctly. He'd become pretty good at that over the past few months. At first he'd had a hard time lying to people. It was difficult to pretend that everything was fine-to go around day after day with a fake plastic smile. One day he asked her how she did it. She told him the secret, the art of living a lie.

"You don't have to lie, sweetie," Kelly had whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "We just don't tell all the truth all of the time."

Even now, as he thought back to that conversation, he wasn't sure about the plan. Yes, not telling the truth helped his father, but it didn't help him and it certainly didn't help his mother.

As he waited for Joey's next question, he could hear the familiar sounds from the room down the hall. At first she'd tried to hide her sobbing sessions from him, but now they were too frequent. Listening to her soft sobs, he took a deep breath.

"Uncle Joey," he said hesitantly. "There's something I need to tell you."

* * *

The flight to London had never seemed longer. Zane's words echoed in his head the entire time. He hadn't said much, in fact he'd refused to answer any of his questions, but the simple fact that he told him anything meant that things had to serious-serious enough for him to notice, serious enough for him to worry, and serious enough for him to ask for help.

Joey grabbed his bag, thankful to finally be on solid ground again. As he headed through the private terminal, he eyed the car he'd called in advance. The house was a ten minute drive from here, he realized, carelessly tossing the bag into the back seat before climbing in himself. In ten minutes he'd have the answers he needed.

He was watching from the window, his face mere inches from the glass. Before he even had a chance to knock, Zane met him on the doorstep.

"Zane," Joey smiled, reaching out to give the young boy a hug. Everything in him wanted to push past him and barrel down the hallway. He needed to see her-with his own eyes. He needed to ask her all the questions that had been screaming inside his head since the moment he hung up the phone, but he couldn't. As Zane pulled away, he could see the look in his eyes, the look that meant he needed to talk as much as Joey needed answers.

There were so many questions. Questions that needed answers, but for now he needed to get inside. Putting one arm around Zane's shoulder, he stepped towards the door. "We should get inside," he whispered, forcing himself to smile down at the young boy. "It's cold out here."

They walked inside and headed for the living room. "What is all this?" he asked. His eyes scanned the sofa, which was littered with newspapers and magazines. Empty liquor bottles littered the floor and broken glass, the remnants of a snifter perhaps, lay haphazardly in front of the fireplace.

"Where's Neville?" Joey asked, unsure of what else he could say.

"Dad fired him," Zane said sadly, "Weeks ago."

"He fired Neville?" None of this made any sense. Kevin loved Neville. He'd worked with their family for years. He practically was family. "Why? Why would he do that?"

Zane looked up at him, his eyes green and wide. They were so much like Kelly's. "He poured it out," he said quietly. "You know his stuff...the whole cabinet full...he poured it all out."

Drinking. He figured as much. In a way, it was almost a relief. Being drunk could explain some of this behavior, but some of it...some of it was inexcusable.

"Zane" Her voice was so soft and timid that he wasn't sure he would have recognized it if he hadn't seen her descending the stairs.

"Who are you..." She stopped. Her mouth went dry as she instinctively pulled the robe tighter around her. "Joey," she breached, reaching out to clutch the banister in an effort to steady herself. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

He wasted no time closing the distance between them. Stepping up onto the bottom step, he looked at her, the tear stained face and bloodshot eyes both clear indications of just how bad things really were. "I guess I could ask you the same thing," he said.

* * *

The silence was answer enough. As the awkward moment lingered, Joey stared into her eyes. Without even trying he could recall hundreds of times he'd looked into those eyes, but he couldn't recall them ever looking like this.

"I'll be in my room," Zane said quietly squeezing past them on the stairs.

Kelly closed her eyes. He'd become so accustomed to that-to hiding in his room so he didn't have to hear the arguments, the breaking glass, the truth. Sometimes she wished she could do the same.

Joey watched him walk away, waiting until he heard the bedroom door shut before he spoke again. "Why don't you come sit down?"

She just nodded. She could fool the people at the office, she could make excuses at the school, she could even ward off the meddling neighbor's questions, but she knew her efforts were futile with Joey. He knew her too well. He always had.

The moment she sat down and turned to face him she felt the tears begin to flow. All the lies, all the stress, all the built up anger and hurt and fear-it all came flooding out.

"Kel?" He reached out, touching her face gently, at a loss as to what to do to comfort her. He'd known it was bad. That much was obvious from the bits that Zane had told him, but seeing Kelly like this scared him. Kelly was strong, opinionated, and brave. She'd been through more in her life than most people experience in a lifetime and she'd come through it stronger. For something to break her like this... The thought of it terrified him and yet he had to know. He had to ask.

"Kel, where's Kevin?"

She looked up at him, her body still shaking with sobs as she struggled to catch her breath. "He...He..." She dropped her head, covering her face with her hands.

Joey reached out, pulling her hands into his. "It's okay," he whispered. He could hear his own voice shake slightly as he spoke to her.

'Pull it together' he reminded himself. 'She needs you right now. You have to be strong for her.'

"Come on Kel...just tell me where he is?"

"Jail,"she whispered, her voice so low he could barely hear it.

He froze, his hands falling away from hers for a moment. This had to be a mistake, a misunderstanding...something. "My brother is in jail? What the he'll for? Why?"

Standing up, he reached for his coat, fumbling for his phone. Whatever was going on, he had to fix it.

"Because of me," Kelly whispered, feeling her hands shake harder as Joey whirled around to stare at her with wide eyes. "Kevin's in jail because of me."


	2. Chapter 2

"I never meant..." She drew in another shaky breath. "Everything got so out of hand and Zane..."

"Zane?" Joey didn't understand. "Wait..Wait. Just start from the beginning. Tell me what happened.

How could she tell him? She wasn't sure she even knew herself. The last few months has been a whirlwind of emotion. Some days she blamed herself, other days she blamed Kevin, and on other days she was too exhausted and drained to blame anyone.

"I didn't know he was drinking again," she said quietly, looking up into Joey's blue eyes for a moment before breaking her gaze. She hated this...hurting him. It was all she ever seemed to do.

Joey sighed. "How long?"

"A few months," she responded, correctly assuming he was referring to the drinking. "At first it was with business associates from work. We talked about it and he promised he was ok. He said it wasn't a problem. I guess on some level, I was so afraid of what it really meant that I bought that."

Joey nodded. He understood denial. He'd been there plenty of times himself. "Then what?"

She felt the tears rise again as her mind drifted back to the first time-the first moment that she knew, for sure, that the drinking was out of control.

"Zane called me," she began. "Kevin was supposed to pick him up from study group and he never showed up."

Joey sat still, his heart breaking as he watched her relive these moments. He hated putting her through this, but he couldn't help her if he didn't know the answers...even if the questions were almost too difficult to ask.

"I called the office. I thought maybe he just got held up and that he'd lost track of time, but they said he hadn't been in at all that day."

She remembered that moment so clearly. She remembered the sick feeling that settled in her gut as the realization hit her, but more than anything, she remembered what happened next.

* * *

Months had passed, but the memories were still fresh in her mind-as fresh as they'd been the night it happened. She had called everyone she could think of, his friends, his business associates, the hospitals-everywhere.

It was nearly 3 in the morning when she heard his key in the door. She hadn't been angry...she'd been far too worried for that, but as she rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him she realized just where he'd been.

"Kevin." That was all she'd said. No accusations. No screaming. Nothing...just the mere mention of his name.

"Save the bitching," he spat. He glared at her, the compassion and warmth once present in his eyes now replaced with contempt.

As he pushed past her, walking up the stairs and slamming the door to their room, she remembered slumping onto the couch sobbing.

"Kel," Joey softly touched her face jumping a little as she withdrew from his touch-startled. "Hey, where'd you go?"

He couldn't stand seeing her like this, trapped in her own memories, in a nightmare she'd been living.

"Last night," she whispered. "He had a meeting with a big European investor. He was stressed out about it all week. He hadn't been home much."

Joey nodded, already disturbed by the turn of the conversation.

"I tried to stay out of the way...just let him have some space, but when he came home last night, I could tell he'd been drinking." She could see the worry in Joey's eyes as she continued. "Sometimes, he just gets quiet, you know...it's not always that bad, but last night..."

Her voice trailed off as a tear escaped from her eye.

"Tell me," he whispered squeezing her hand supportively.

"Things had been good for us." She forced a smile for a moment, remembering the times they'd spent together as a family. Nights at the waterfront, days at the museums. She and Kevin had even begun to go out together alone sometimes. It wasn't serious, but it was nice-comfortable...at least it was to her.

"He came into my room."

She watched as Joey's eyes snapped to attention, his shoulders stiffened-his breathing quickened.

"He was angry...furious really. He said he was tired of the games...tired of the lies...tired of putting on some show."

It was like listening to a news story only he knew the players here. Everything in him wanted to scream at her to stop. He didn't want to know any more, but he couldn't. All he could manage was a weak nod and a weak squeeze of her hands once more.

"Go on," he managed, his eyes meeting hers again. He had to know the rest though he feared he already knew how this story would end.

* * *

"I thought he was sleeping," she whispered, her back still shaking as he held her.

"It's ok," Joey whispered, trying to convince himself as much as her. "None of this is your fault."

"I just... I don't know what to say to him. He called the police," she managed, her voice hoarse as she continued to sob. "He called the police on his own father."

Joey shook his head. "He was just trying to protect you."

"From his own father?" She couldn't help but blame herself. She should have protected him, shielded him, kept this ugliness away from him.

"He did the right thing. It couldn't go on like this." He sighed as he watched the tears continue to stream down her face. "How about I go make us some tea and we'll figure this out?"

She looked up at him. For the first time in months she actually felt safe. Joey had always brought stability into her life and tonight was no exception.

The key turned in the door. It was a sound she'd come to dread over the past few months.

"Where the hell are you, Kelly!?"

She closed her eyes, the greeting not unfamiliar. Clearly he had been indulging since his relief from jail.

"So what?" He stumbled into the living room, tossing is coat onto the back of the sofa. "You think you can just leave me in jail to rot? Huh? Is that it?"

He moved closer to her, his anger increasing with every step he took. She just sat there on the couch like nothing was happening...like last night had been like any other night.

Kelly stood up, placing her hands in front of her in an effort to calm him-even knowing it was futile. He was way past rational and well on his way to drunk.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to spend the night in a place like that?"

She stepped back, avoiding his arms and hands as they flung wildly. The smell of alcohol on his breath seemed to strengthen with each accusation he hurled at her.

"Kevin, please,"she tried to stay calm, aware that losing her composure would only fuel the fire.

His hands were on her shoulders in an instant, the tight grip of his fingers pressing mercilessly on her shoulder blades.

"Don't you dare ask me anything," he spat at her, tightening his grip as his anger intensified.

She didn't even hear him as he came up behind her. It all happened so fast. One moment her eyes burned with tears as she stared into the face of a man she used to love-a man that now frightened her in ways she never imagined he would. In the next moment she was staring at that same man as he lay sprawled out across the living room floor.

Joey stood in front of her. His eyes shone with a mix of anger and worry as he softly touched her face. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

Kelly nodded, clenching her hands to try and stop the shaking. She watched as Kevin struggled to rise to his feet. Joey grabbed his arm, jerking him up and pushing him back towards the wall.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Kevin? How could you do this?


End file.
